Chapter 18: Staff Ghost (6)
Ho Ye-yang. She had not been able to fall asleep until late into the night.
“Phew…”
Sitting up in bed, she looked for a lamp and lit it.
Staff Ghost, Gu Gang-ryong. Because of his visit, the Tiger Pit Sect fell into financial difficulties once again.
Staff Ghost had taken the money that the escorts of the Swift Tiger Escort Agency risked their lives to earn as if he were taking pocket money, and this had entirely become a sorrow that the Tiger Pit Sect had to bear.
Whether it was the martial world or the Confucian world, wasn’t that how all places where people lived were?
The weak were eaten by the strong, and the strong were eaten by those who were stronger.
This was the fate of a small and weak sect.
Moreover, since the Tiger Pit Sect was a place that avoided preying on those weaker than themselves, the blow was even more severe.
‘Father is pitiable.’
Ho Ye-yang recalled Ho Yeon-am, who had drawn his sword for her.
In the end, her father suppressed his anger and bowed his head for the retainers of the Tiger Pit Sect.
If things had gone wrong, the Tiger Pit Sect, which had been handed down for generations, could have been submerged in blood and disappeared in an instant, so in a way, it was a matter of course.
In the end. Everything was the logic of power.
Those who were good must not be weak.
Only by being strong could one carry out their own line and beliefs.
Slide—
Ho Ye-yang pulled out a document from the drawer next to her desk.
<Martial Alliance – Ascending Heaven Academy / Notice of Admission>
What was held in her hand was a letter sent from the distant Martial Alliance.
The Ascending Heaven Academy.
It was an academy operated directly by the Martial Alliance, which was the central coalition of the ‘Fifteen Pillars of the Orthodox Path’ consisting of nine sects, one union, and five great clans.
An institution where youths aged sixteen to eighteen enrolled and, through about eight years of training, were reborn as next-generation talents to lead the Jianghu.
If they received systematic support here, becoming an expert was a foregone conclusion, and after graduation, they could either remain in the Martial Alliance or return to the place they originally belonged to.
Ho Ye-yang had visited the Martial Alliance in secret from her parents in the past to take the entrance examination of the Ascending Heaven Academy, and had recently been notified of the results.
“Phew…”
At Ho Ye-yang’s sigh, the candlelight flickered.
“To think I would actually pass.”
It was a statement that would make the young talents of other clans faint if they heard it.
For the Ascending Heaven Academy was an institution that everyone was anxious to enter, being the top training center for the leadership of the Orthodox Martial World in both name and reality.
In the examinations of wisdom, virtue, and physical strength held once a year at the Ascending Heaven Academy, Ho Ye-yang received scores close to a perfect score.
Despite having achieved such an honorable result, there was only one reason she was sighing.
Tuition.
The tuition of the Ascending Heaven Academy was famous for being tremendously expensive.
Indeed, since the talents applying here were those raised with intent by each sect or clan in the first place, tuition itself might not even be a factor to worry about from the beginning.
Ho Ye-yang also felt burdened by the amount of tuition, but she had judged that if she could only enroll, her parents would be delighted.
Since she, returning after graduating from the academy, might be able to greatly raise her family based on her experience in the Martial Alliance.
However.
The family fortune, which had been declining day by day due to the interference of the Cao Family Manor and the Black Path Gang, was completely broken by this extortion of Staff Ghost.
Money. That was the problem.
“…”
Ho Ye-yang quietly looked down at the notice of admission from the Ascending Heaven Academy, and then crumpled it.
And then she decided not to bother telling her parents about this fact.
‘Still, it is regrettable.’
She also wanted to go to the Martial Alliance.
She wanted to enter the Ascending Heaven Academy and see wider, higher scenery.
However, since it was a difficult task in the situation she was currently facing, Ho Ye-yang decided to quickly shake off her regrets.
Would she feel a bit better if she bought and ate even one of her favorite dumplings as a late-night snack while enjoying the cool night air?
* * *
“…Better, my foot.”
Ho Ye-yang entered the alley with a troubled expression.
Swoooooosh—
For while she was walking along the empty main road, it suddenly began to rain out of nowhere.
“Bong-i! Let’s go in there first and avoid the rain!”
She pulled the reins of her beloved horse.
The dumpling shop she often visited to buy late-night snacks was shutting its doors.
It was because the hour was late, and above all, because of the rain that was pouring down with the momentum to last for the next few days.
Ho Ye-yang hurriedly went under the eaves.
Then she leaned against the dirt wall to shelter from the rain.
Squeeze—
She wrung out her wet clothes to squeeze out the moisture.
She let out a small sigh, wiping away the rainwater flowing down her forehead.
To think she would suffer such a mishap after going out for a night walk to soothe her regrets.
Neigh—
Beside her, the horse laughed.
The fellow, as if liking the cool rain, shook his mane with a refreshed expression.
“Bong-i, you, is it okay for you to feel good alone when your sister is soaking wet?”
Ho Ye-yang laughed, giving the horse’s rump a slap.
Right at that moment.
A human voice was heard from the other end of the alley.
“Hey! Which bastard is scattering shit on the street?!”
It was the voice of the errand boy from the dumpling shop she often visited.
Since he was a big and hot-tempered-looking person, her first thought was that he might be fighting with someone.
“Aren’t you going to pick this up right now?! How dare you in front of someone else’s dumpling shop… Gasp!?”
However, the voice of the errand boy coming from beyond the darkness changed completely in the middle.
“S-sorry. Please pass by. Y-yes, you could feel like taking a shit, sure, sure—just take a dump and go. I will clean it up tomorrow morning. Aha—since it’s raining like this, it’ll j-just wash away. Nothing to clean up at all. Haha—hahahaha…”
What was it? What could make that hot-tempered errand boy flustered and run away?
Ho Ye-yang felt curious.
So she led her horse and went around to the back of the alley.
And, she soon came face-to-face with something.
How should she describe it, that, that bright red thing?
A man standing miserably in the darkness, precariously as if he might collapse at any moment.
His entire body was stained with wounds and blood, and a reek of blood filled the air.
Moisture was dripping from the tips of his wet hair, but those too were dyed completely crimson, making it hard to distinguish whether they were raindrops or blood drops.
“Ex-excuse me?”
Ho Ye-yang spoke with a trembling voice.
“A-are you human? Or are you a ghost?”
At that, the bright red shadow looked this way.
A short stature and a delicate build, making it impossible to tell if they were female or male.
Although the face was not visible, she could tell at a glance.
That he was in a situation where he was dying right now.
Eventually, the shadow replied.
“As you see.”
“Then you must be a ghost.”
“…”
At Ho Ye-yang’s words, the shadow shut its mouth.
Then it made a motion of glancing down at its own attire.
‘Whew—it’s a human.’
Ho Ye-yang felt her fear slightly fade away.
For if that person were truly a blood-crazed demon, he would have charged immediately instead of replying.
‘By the way, it’s a voice I’ve heard somewhere.’
Ho Ye-yang thought.
The shadow’s voice was rough, as if he had swallowed hot charcoal, and even that was hard to hear, muffled by the sound of the rain around them.
Yet, despite that, she thought she had heard the shadow’s voice somewhere.
Just then.
Neighhh!
Ho Ye-yang’s beloved horse interrupted her thoughts.
“B-Bong-i! What’s wrong!”
Paying no heed to Ho Ye-yang’s urgent voice, the horse trembled.
It seemed to fear the crimson shadow floating on the other side of the alley.
Eventually.
Slowly—
The shadow moved.
It seemed to intend to go beyond the alley.
A precariously staggering step.
Breathing that made it seem as if he might collapse and die at any moment.
Seeing that sight, Ho Ye-yang spoke without realizing.
“Wait a moment!”
As the shadow stopped its steps, she pulled out a pouch from her saddle.
Swish—
Ho Ye-yang threw the pouch toward the shadow.
Inside was wound-healing medicine to apply to injured areas.
“It is not expensive, but… please use it if you need it.”
“…”
The shadow held the pouch containing the wound-healing medicine and remained silent.
Only the gaze staring blankly this way from beyond the darkness was felt.
Ho Ye-yang took courage and spoke.
“I do not know what happened… and I cannot carelessly intervene in the grudges of the martial world… but at least I have enough compassion to help someone who is in trouble right before my eyes. If, if you dislike it, just throw it on the ground and go.”
At that.
“…”
The pouch containing the wound-healing medicine slid and disappeared into the darkness.
Then.
Twitch—
The shadow moved once.
Without realizing, Ho Ye-yang leaped back a step.
In front of her.
…Clank!
A heavy bag fell down.
It was a very suspicious-looking leather bag stained with dried blood.
Ho Ye-yang hastily spoke.
“Wh-what is this? I only wanted to help, so why…”
“Load it on your horse and go.”
But the shadow did not wait for her words to finish.
Flick—
And like a candle blowing out, it vanished so suddenly.
Ho Ye-yang stood blankly for a moment in the pouring rain.
“…What is it?”
Only after some time had passed could she move cautiously.
The leather bag from which the smell of blood reeked.
What was inside there?
Ho Ye-yang reached out a slightly trembling hand.
With her eyes narrowed because she did not know what kind of terrible thing might be inside, she flung open the mouth of the bag.
“Ugh!”
She stepped back for a moment at the sudden rush of the smell of blood.
It was with the intention of running away immediately if something dangerous seemed to be inside.
However.
“…!”
What was contained in the bag was enough to make her eyes widen.
Gold ingots. And a massive amount of them.
Ho Ye-yang reached her hand into the bag without realizing.
This cold, heavy, and blood-reeking thing was definitely money.
“This… this is definitely our Tiger Pit Sect’s…?”
She looked inside the bag with a blank expression.
Inside, it was filled with the gold ingots that Staff Ghost had taken from the Tiger Pit Sect and other gold and silver pieces.
There were even a significant number of banknotes mixed in, which appeared to have originated from the Cao Family Manor and the Black Path Gang.
Ho Ye-yang could tell by instinct.
This was the money bag of Staff Ghost, Gu Gang-ryong.
And the original owner of this money bag was dead.
From beyond the darkness, the sound of blood-soaked footsteps was heard.
Step—
Tired.
Step— step—
Lonely.
Step— step— step—
Painful.
Step— step— step— step—
Solitary.
Ho Ye-yang stood up from her spot without realizing.
And without even knowing that her body was getting wet from the rain and muddy water, she chased after the sound of footsteps.
However.
“…”
There was nothing at the place where the sound had disappeared.
Only the traces of a desperate spitting of blood were slowly being washed away by the rainwater.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost